My doctor is sending my 5 year old for tests as he so hyper, never shuts up, interpupts at school and home, in lala land most of time, he can not sit still or stand still and struggles taking turns. As I was worried and school are now concerned i thought a couple of weeks ago i would share this with my doctor and he is refered us to shrink and child behaviourable expert to see if he suffers this, omg what if he does, i mean it explains his behaviour as to be honest he isnt that naughty he is just too much, chatty, very anxious, honestly scared of anything, has bad tempers if he cant do something, struggles to play on his own, what do i do, did i do this to him, how can i help him, he is such an intelligent kid but he cant express it too well, cant read as he cant concerntrate for too long argh, its just one thing after another :cry:

Hi tracey.

DO NOT blame yourself!!!!

My son is 5, and he also has been diagnosed with this.

I have spent YEARS trying to cope with his behaviour. I'm a childcare professional so i thought I had done something terribly wrong to make him the way he is.

Thomas has never slept a whole night through, and is rude, answers back and has tantrums that can last for 3 hours, and all the other things that you have experienced.

We went to see the specialist, and were there for 2 and a half hours. She was brilliant, and kept telling me it wasnt my fault - their brains are wired differently. She put him on Melatonin to help him sleep, which kind of works, and we're going back on 16th Jan to see about Ritalin. While I'm not happy about him taking it, I'm due in just over 8 weeks, and need all the help I can.

Make sure you talk to you son's teachers - I have and they have been brilliant!!

If you want to talk or need support, PLEASE e-mail me!!! You dont have to go through this alone!!

hugs,

marnie

hi
my son is 12 and im at the end with him.
he does alot of things u mention,hes been arrsted twice,on last chance at school.
how do u go about getting help?
mandy

hi mandy
just made an appointment with gp and they watched and asked robbie and myself questions, she then told me a member of family support team would send me an appointment and study his behaviour in different situations, so im waiting on appointment now, hopefully they can help me and robbie. I feel like im a bad mum as people judge me when he mixes with other kids. Chucked out of class at 5 is awful so school and myself and my partner thought we would see if any was medically wrong with him xx hope u get some help soon mandy, i couldnt imagine robbie 12 as he is now it is hard enough at 5 xx

My son is 11 in april and he has adhd he also really hard work BUT be careful putting your children on the medication because sometimes it makes them even worse and the docs dont want to take them off it once they have been diagnosed!
My son becomes even more hyper and almost incoherant when on the medication and he was only perscribed the lowest dose of ritalin they can give.
I know it is hard work but do try and manage it without the drugs if you can, i have taken my son off the medication myself as the doctor would not do it and for the last month of school in dec i had to take him home 4 times he didnt get to perform in his school concert and his behaviour was just off the wall.Hope you can all get the help you need and soon but it can sometimes be a long wait to get seen, i waited 9months for my son to get seen but my cousin is still waiting after 2.5years for my niece who has definately got it! i cant tell you why they get adhd because no-one can give you answer but i can empathise with you all on how hard it is to manage a child with it!!!

Hi Tracey, my son is 12 and was diagnosed with ADHD years ago. He showed the same signs as ur son when he was younger and never slept and was into everything, the school just put it down to me being a bad parent and wouldnt help. He used to run up and down on buses, wouldnt sit still in restaurants, was a total nightmare in supermarkets and it got to the stage where I couldnt take him anywhere cos I was so ashamed of his behaviour and the comments I used to get off people. We moved house and school 3 years ago and the new school he went to referred him to a consultant. The consultant diagnosed him as having ADHD and in a way it was a relief to know I wasnt to blame for his behaviour. The consultant put him on ritalin and at first I cried and cried as I had heard such bad things about it and didnt want him to have it. He has been on ritalin now for 3 years and it has saved my life. My son has it 3 times a day as it only lasts 4 hours at a time and when he has taken it he is a golden child, so helpful and will sit and read, watch tv etc. There can be some side effects of ritalin such as loss of appetite but the results far outweigh the side effetcs. It is a case of trial and error with ritalin, u have to get the dose right and the times right or it will not have the right affect and can actually make them more hyper or seem comatosed if the dose and timings arent correct so it did take a few months for us to get it right. He is also on melatonin which is a non addictive herbal slleping tablet, my son has 2 every night and within an hour he is asleep, before he was on it he would often be up at 3am still. My son sees his consultant every 3 months to see how he is doing and to reassess him cos hopefully when he is a few years older he wont need the ritalin anymore.
Sorry if I have rambled a bit, if you need any more information or just a chat let me know and Ill give u my email address. Dont worry cos I once thought it was the end of the world to have a son with ADHD and wanted a perfect child but now he is perfect to me in every way now that I have come to terms with his condition and I wouldnt change him for anything, we just needed the right help and guidance so u r doing the right thing gettin help.
I hope everything goes well for you, and probs let me know, sarah x x

Hello ladies, my stepson is almost 11 and lives full time with me and his dad and was diagnosed with adhd at age 6, he also was horrendous, running every where, throwing things, attacking staff and other children at school, unable to follow instructions, unable to sit still etc etc. After diagnosis he was prescribed a form of ritalin once a day in the moring, great, till it wore off so they introduced a 2nd dose at lunchtime but of course the school won't administter it so i used to have to go in, then he was put on Concerta which is the slow release version and that was so much better.

After 3 years the dose was upped from 18mg to 36mg as both the school and us noticed a gradual change in his behaviour so the tried the higher dose and so far it seems to be going well. On the days when for whatever reason he hasn't had his tablet we notice fairly quickly, he is unable to sit still, hands constantly moving, twitching fingers and toes etc . The only detention he has ever had at school was the day he'd had no tablet. Sorry should have said that at aged 7 he was moved to a special school, at first we didn't want him to go there but it's the best thing we could have done for him, he is now making progress in leaps and bounds academically, behaviourally he is so improved and ignores other children disruping the class where as 2 years ago he would have joined in, he is polite, well mannered and a joy to have around, very different from the tasmanian devil who came to live with us 5years ago! The school are even planning on moving him to mainstream high school in sept so he joins with his peers, they will keep his place at special school until they are confident about his integration at the mainstream school.

The consultants etc are usually reluctant to diagnose adhd before age 7, however even though your son is only 5 he is entitled to help at school, ask to speak to the SEN there to see if any support can be arranged for him to try and include him in school, if you can prevent him from being excluded or only attending part time it's better in the long run.

There are side effects for the drugs and they don't work for everyone but it is worth a try.

I wish i had found something like this forum when they first came to live with us as i was also at the end of my tether with them and was so glad to have the support of the school and doctors etc in helping me manage his behaviour (had no children or experience of them at all then!!) and they were fantastic, even now i still rely on one of the ta's from school for advice and support, but now i work with her as a ta for children with special needs!

If i can be of any help or support to anyone please just ask
Helen

hi
my son is 12 wont even come o doctors with me.
i cant take him much more,im scared of him now which isnt good.
im going to speak to my doc about him and see.

mandy